The two things are not connected as you well know - lack of PPE is not a financial issue i.e. MPs get £10k so no money for PPE - its the failure of the public sector to get its act together - perhaps if we addressed that issue first?

What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/

What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has urged NHS staff not to overuse personal protective equipment, sparking criticism from doctors’ and nurses’ leaders.

“We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource it is,” he said on Friday. “Everyone should use the equipment they clinically need, in line with the guidelines: no more and no less.”
F7^ckin shocking - he should resign - now

Quote ="wire-quin"What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/'" It does seem a rather extreme response as Boris has only been in power for 4 months. Hardly had time enough to be hated. Not like Thatcher. Now that was a death worth celebrating with a few drinks.

Quote ="wire-quin"What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/'" It does seem a rather extreme response as Boris has only been in power for 4 months. Hardly had time enough to be hated. Not like Thatcher. Now that was a death worth celebrating with a few drinks.

Quote ="wire-quin"What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/'" Surely throwing a party would be against the current social distancing restrictions? I'd settle for a generous nightcap.

Quote ="wire-quin"What about this pr1ck https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/10/union-bo ... -12537104/'" Surely throwing a party would be against the current social distancing restrictions? I'd settle for a generous nightcap.

I went to her funeral to celebrate one of Britain's greatest leaders. London was packed with people paying respect to one of our finest.

Did you wear your beret and medals?

I went to the anti poll tax demonstrations in London . I too found London was packed with our finest. I met nurses, train drivers, miners and loads of public sector workers

Seems the capital is a great place to express ourselves.

Maybe your friends the nurses, train drivers, miners and loads of public sector workers will reconvene to protest against the HS2, upgrades and new railways and improved transport links in/to the north, new hospitals/ levelling in the country.......... when Boris gets back to work.

Pesky Tories

Now who’s being naive, they have spent the money and plenty more. I expect nothing will change under the virus excuse and I doubt it would have anyway.

More likely making sure she was dead.

Do you actually think that any of those things will happen, especially under a Boris Johnson lead government.

As for levelling the country, the only way that will happen is if we all get wiped out by the virus.
The UK has never been and will never be level.

The hole in our finances will be so bloody huge after all this is over, that a roof over your head and enough food to eat may have to be enough for a while.
The deficit will be at a new record high and some taxes, despite promises of no increases, will simply have to rise.

Who knows, we may begin to value some of the lower paid workers and nurses etc, you know, the ones who were shafted during austerity.

As for Thatcher - have a listen to "Tramp the Dirt Down, by Elvis Costello", he summed her up pretty damn well.

The Home Secretary has asked us to get our crayons out and draw handprint pictures with a heart in the middle.
You can even put them in your windows.
It will come as some relief to those prattling on about testing and lack of PPE

I'll give you nurses and miners. But train drivers... Come on!

Not as much as Blair and Brown. I hope they shuffle off this mortal coil on the same day.... My birthday... 2 celebrations in one

HS2 only serves one purpose, to make Birmingham London's biggest commuter city. The money will run out once that has been achieved.

The only thing I'd trust the current shower of Tories to do, where levellling in the North is concerned, involves bulldozers. JCB ones, probably.

You still using your tax avoiding umbrella scheme ,typical socialist do as i say ,not as i do

Quote ="JONNYGIANT"You still using your tax avoiding umbrella scheme ,typical socialist do as i say ,not as i do '" The bloke in your avatar knows. https://en-gb.facebook.com/JeremyCorbyn ... 571878872/

Quote ="JONNYGIANT"You still using your tax avoiding umbrella scheme ,typical socialist do as i say ,not as i do '" The bloke in your avatar knows. https://en-gb.facebook.com/JeremyCorbyn ... 571878872/

Anyone else see Priti Patel make Diane Abbott look like Carol Vorderman tonight?

Quote ="WIZEB"The bloke in your avatar knows. https://en-gb.facebook.com/JeremyCorbyn ... 571878872/'" He liked a bung or two tax free

Quote ="WIZEB"The bloke in your avatar knows. https://en-gb.facebook.com/JeremyCorbyn ... 571878872/'" He liked a bung or two tax free

Indeed

Patel and Hancock pretty much blaming frontline staff for using too much PPE.
True colours shining through.

The current government will NEVER admit any failure or wrong doing.

The procurement of the equipment needed here must be extremely difficult but, rather than admitting this, instead, they like to quote numbers in their 100,000's of how many pairs of gloves and aprons have been sourced.
None of this matters if the front line staff havent got protective gloves or scrubs to use.



As I say, it's an almost impossible task, especially when the bulk of the disposable items are usually bought from China and aside from the logistical issues of moving stuff halfway around the world and EVERY other country needing the exact same equipment, China too has been on lockdown.

A little bit more honesty would certainlt be sensible and not pretending that this is in any way the fault of the people who need the gear.

Interesting that this morning on Andrew Marr, Sir Jeremy Farrar, Head of the Wellcome Trust and a Govt and WHO adviser said that mass testing and tracking down and isolation of infected individuals and their contacts was the way to go to reduce the number of cases and that finding effective medication that is allready on the market would be the best treatment in the short term as production of a vaccine would take much longer.

You have to question the decisions of Govt ministers. Advisers are there to advise but Govt ministers don't necessarily need to follow that advice. Furthermore, I would guess that the advisers gave several scenarios ranging from mass testing with a total lockdown to just leaving the pandemic to run its course without intervention. I guess that the government then balanced deaths vs economy prior to making their decisions.

What has become apparent is that globalisation has left us without the capability to mass produce cheap items of PPE as this is now done mainly in China and that the Govt had no effective emergency plan due to running down the NHS budget , public health budget, privatisation/abolition of Govt agencies and not keeping adequate emergency stocks of PPE.

Hopefully this will see increased funding for the NHS in the future and more manufacturing jobs kept in the UK rather than increasing globalisation that has seen these manufacturing jobs move to China with its cheap labour and lack of workers/human rights.

On the subject of government advisors, it was clear from the start that, Boris Johnson chose to flank himself with 2 health experts, so that he couldn't be blamed if things didn't go to plan.
Quite amazing that "we will go with the science" on this one but, on EVERY other aspect of government, they do as they please.
The scientists and experts on climate change, still remain largely ignored and if they are correct, the effects of the world heating up could be equally as catastrophic, albeit, not necessarily in the UK.

The UK is on course to suffer the highest number of deaths in Europe, despite Germany and France having larger populations, Germany seemingly getting through this rather better than the UK.

Lets see how it all unfolds and hope that the peak is getting very close and that at some point in the next few weeks, the light at the end of the tunnel will get a little brighter.

Out of curiosity have you ever agreed with or offered praise for anything the conservatives 'do' ?